MITSUGIRLY sails off into the HORIZON-review & pictorial

[mitsugirly]

Bas offered to let us hang out at the beach or do what we wanted for a while and said he'd have us back to the port before dark. I stayed right in the dive shop area but if I was to come back, I'd definitely explore the entire beach. 

 

This was my opportunity to take a few pictures of the beach and area. It really was beautiful and I can see why people like to come here even though you have to pay to get in. It's definitely a beach that I would come to even if I wasn't diving. There really wasn't many people here either and it never looked or felt crowded even mid-day. They did have a restaurant to get food and the hubby and Kendra ended up getting some fries and drinks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

They had the Christmas spirit too!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kendra decided she just wanted to chill and get a little bit of sun.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I did notice a few other Carnival beach towels there, but not many.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Notice the moon was already out.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sakari found a baby sea urchin that she had to come show us and then put back in the water.

 

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

A few pics with scuba photographer girl as the sun was setting.

 

 

 

 

 

It was time to pack up and go. We spent a lot of time talking to Sam and Bas about the island. We also talked a lot about the dive business, how long he had been doing it, his business and so on. Until recently (I want to say it was either February or maybe it was this past November) he had an actual dive shop. He decided to get rid of it and just do his thing without a shop. He has been in business long enough and doing this so many years that word of mouth and his reputation keeps him busy enough that he really didn't need a shop. I imagine he just rents the equipment from other shops and so on. Good set up I supposed. He uses their facilities.

 

Our dive was 50 minutes according to my watch I took a picture of and the times on my pictures. The only picture I managed to snap of how far we were down showed us at 25' deep. I'm not sure if we went deeper or not. Bas said he kept Sakari at around 12'.

 

We headed out to the parking lot around 6:10pm (our time)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I just love this design they came up with for the turtle and their dive shop. It's very creative and eye catching. So cool.

 

 

 

 

I had to laugh at the "Bee watering station" and Bas said they "water the bees" over there, which keep them away from the beach areas and people?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And a little advertisement pictures.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The ride back was full of conversation and we had a great time!

 

We highly recommend Bas Harts and will definitely use him again when we return.

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

We were back to the port and to the ship around 6:30pm. We headed to our rooms to take a quick shower and change. We were hungry and needed lunch/dinner. We decided to go to the buffet for a quick bite to eat because we wanted to get back off the ship and explore the city since we never had the opportunity the last time we were here.

 

The kids said they didn't want to go with us and elected to go to the kids club. At this time, the kids club was at the buffet for dinner and that would be where I dropped Sakari and B off at. Kam was already there and smiled and waved and I must have stood there with my mouth open in shock. I didn't get a "Where's my mom" "I wanna leave" or crying or anything. Just a smile and wave. Meanwhile, Kendra was in the background hidden because she said that it looked like Kam was having a good time and she didn't want to have to take her in to town if she didn't have to. She watched as we were standing there and seen that Kam didn't ask us to leave and Kendra was over joyed that she would have a few hours off the ship without the kids and fighting or crying. It was going to be adult time!!!

 

After we scarfed down our food we headed off the ship....for a night of exploring and lots of picture taking!

 

 

 

I will have to finish this part later. I haven't sorted or prepared my pictures yet past this part. I hope everyone is still enjoying the review.

[Rosy1013]

Still following! Loving it so far:)

[mitsugirly]

3 hours ago, bakersdozen12 said:

 

Journeys cruises are special cruises that Carnival does. They are longer in duration, and go to some ports that Carnival typically doesn’t go to. They also have special activities on board during these cruises like throwback themes, a extravagant midnight buffet, classes that you can take and earn collectible pins. I really want to do one someday, but due to the limited number of Journeys cruises offered each year, it seems that the dates never work out for me. Someday though! Very high on my bucket list. 

 

https://www.carnival.com/journeys.aspx

 

Thanks so much for the link. I just checked it out and see 2 of them I just might have to check out a little more!!! 😄

 

2 hours ago, Shattered__minds said:

I dived with bas a few years back and really enjoyed it. He and his staff make it a really great experience. 

 

It is definitely one of my favorite dive companies now! We had a huge misunderstanding last year and I'm glad I decided to put that behind me and give him a try. I will definitely use him again next time we are there.

 

 

12 minutes ago, Rosy1013 said:

Still following! Loving it so far:)

 

Thanks so much!

[Shanleigh]

Regarding the camera the same exact thing happened to me on my Oasis cruise this summer. My camera was a Sony waterproof. It was working ok until we hit St Marteen, and the pictures gradually got lighter as the day went on, when I attempted to use it in the ocean it went kaput. Granted, my camera was about 5 years old. But I called Sony when I returned anyway. Basically I was told the screen is waterproof but the inside isn’t and somehow water had gotten in the inside. I did charge it the day before so maybe I didn’t close it all the way? I have since bought a new camera. And can’t wait to use it. 

Hopefully you have better luck than I did with the camera. I am enjoying your review, my family will sail this ship in 2020.

[aztekpm]

Enjoying as always!  Crazy how big the kids are getting ... time sure flies!

[gui218]

Thank you, Mitsugirly  and family for this great and informative review.

You were missed and deserved a break and time off for you and the clan.

The snorkeling pictures and scuba pictures are sharp with lots of colour on the close ups, Flash?

It is appreciated that you name the fish etc. There are again a number of Firsts: you were very comfortable at start of the dive, Hubbies dive mask with ear covers had him really enjoying the dive, huge octopus, and Sakari with best dive and saw lots of eels.

The dive with 2 instructors was beneficial so some went deep and Sakari enjoyed a dive without having to stop.

Well Done and thanks again to you and the Family. 

[Hillbillygram]

4 hours ago, bakersdozen12 said:

 

Journeys cruises are special cruises that Carnival does. They are longer in duration, and go to some ports that Carnival typically doesn’t go to. They also have special activities on board during these cruises like throwback themes, a extravagant midnight buffet, classes that you can take and earn collectible pins. I really want to do one someday, but due to the limited number of Journeys cruises offered each year, it seems that the dates never work out for me. Someday though! Very high on my bucket list. 

 

https://www.carnival.com/journeys.aspx

We are so looking forward to our Journeys cruise next month. As you said, it is longer than most of their cruises. We will be sailing out of Miami with 2 sea days before our first port of call of St. Croix with Guadeloupe, Barbados, Martinique, Antigua, St. Maarten, & Tortola to follow. Then 2 more sea days before arriving back in Miami.

[bakersdozen12]

48 minutes ago, Hillbillygram said:

We are so looking forward to our Journeys cruise next month. As you said, it is longer than most of their cruises. We will be sailing out of Miami with 2 sea days before our first port of call of St. Croix with Guadeloupe, Barbados, Martinique, Antigua, St. Maarten, & Tortola to follow. Then 2 more sea days before arriving back in Miami.

 

That's definitely an itinerary I would love to do someday!

[TMW67]

We will be going to Cas Abao in April, thanks for the pictures! It really does look beautiful, I can't wait to go! I'm enjoying your review so far... awesome as usual!😊

[FMZ]

Hi, loving the review as always! Totally off topic, Sakari's bathing suits are so cute, where do get them?

[splash_in_the_water]

great diving trip review. You're really making me want to go on another cruise! without the kids this time...lol

 

Also, somehow i misses the part about the elevators. That all seems like more trouble than it's worth. Iknow at times waiting for a lift mightbe annoying , but with what, 6 or 4 different ones  depending where you're at..you just wait a minute and even if it's going up or down, you can hop on anyway , and hit your floor and you'll be there soon enough- none of this assigned elevator BS lol....

 

cruise people problems i guess...

Edited January 6, 2019 by splash_in_the_water

[crookedhalo]

7 hours ago, splash_in_the_water said:

great diving trip review. You're really making me want to go on another cruise! without the kids this time...lol

 

Also, somehow i misses the part about the elevators. That all seems like more trouble than it's worth. Iknow at times waiting for a lift mightbe annoying , but with what, 6 or 4 different ones  depending where you're at..you just wait a minute and even if it's going up or down, you can hop on anyway , and hit your floor and you'll be there soon enough- none of this assigned elevator BS lol....

 

cruise people problems i guess...

 

We actually stayed in a hotel a few years ago that used this type of system. It was actually very easy to use and did end up making the trips shorter. Didn't take long to figure out how it worked and was nice to not have to look at each elevator to see which one just dinged..

[splash_in_the_water]

oh, well, maybe it does. just seems like odd to me I guess. 

[kruisinkris]

LOVE your reviews!! You take great pictures and do great narratives!

 

[dreadpirate3]

Loving your review, especially the dive stories.

[IronScott]

Excited to read your Aruba review. My wife and I just finished our first cruise but we have been to Aruba many times. We absolutely love it there but realize it's not for everyone. The governments of Aruba and Curacao are apparently working on a high-speed ferry transfer between the two but it may be a while before it's finished.

[Jenjer]

Cas Abao beach looks perfect for us. We don't dive but the kids enjoy paddle board looks like they rent them.

 

How long of a taxi ride is it from port to the beach?

[chipis]

Hooray!!... Another Mitsugirly review!!!

 

Kim, welcome back to CC... needless to say, you were greatly missed here in the boards, and I kept popping in from time to time to see if you had re-appeared and to see if everything was okay. We all missed your amazing reviews, beautiful pictures and witty humor... so, as you have been able to see, we are all very happy to see you here again!

 

Also, congrats on all the 2018 accomplishments : finishing schooling, your son's new home, another grandson.... (impossible to believe, for such a young gal in age and spirit!... I hope the hubby doesn't get jealous... he's a lucky fellow)... and no wonder you took a break from here, and social media in general. Thanks for coming back, and for sharing your new review with us (those of us who have followed you for a while, know it takes a lot of time and effort to come back and post a review like yours after coming from a cruise, and we really appreciate your efforts)... it's always a delight and an adventure to read them!

 

All the best for you and your family in 2019!.... and as usual, I will keep reading on! Sakari is now a beautiful young woman... I can't believe how big she is now. We all have seen her grow up from cruise to cruise.

Cheers!!

 

[mitsugirly]

On 1/5/2019 at 5:50 PM, Shanleigh said:

Regarding the camera the same exact thing happened to me on my Oasis cruise this summer. My camera was a Sony waterproof. It was working ok until we hit St Marteen, and the pictures gradually got lighter as the day went on, when I attempted to use it in the ocean it went kaput. Granted, my camera was about 5 years old. But I called Sony when I returned anyway. Basically I was told the screen is waterproof but the inside isn’t and somehow water had gotten in the inside. I did charge it the day before so maybe I didn’t close it all the way? I have since bought a new camera. And can’t wait to use it. 

Hopefully you have better luck than I did with the camera. I am enjoying your review, my family will sail this ship in 2020.

 

It sucks when it happens when you are on vacation. I'm thinking I should buy another sd card and possibly another backup camera. Sakari has her own, which she managed to crack the screen in it at camp this past year...so can't use it in the water. Then I have the other older Olympus as well...but I personally, can never have enough cameras...just in case. LOL

 

I hope you have a wonderful cruise on the Horizon next year!

 

On 1/5/2019 at 6:10 PM, aztekpm said:

Enjoying as always!  Crazy how big the kids are getting ... time sure flies!

 

Time is flying too fast for me. I look at how big she is compared to when she started cruising at 3 years old and I think where did the time go????

 

 

On 1/5/2019 at 6:50 PM, gui218 said:

Thank you, Mitsugirly  and family for this great and informative review.

You were missed and deserved a break and time off for you and the clan.

The snorkeling pictures and scuba pictures are sharp with lots of colour on the close ups, Flash?

It is appreciated that you name the fish etc. There are again a number of Firsts: you were very comfortable at start of the dive, Hubbies dive mask with ear covers had him really enjoying the dive, huge octopus, and Sakari with best dive and saw lots of eels.

The dive with 2 instructors was beneficial so some went deep and Sakari enjoyed a dive without having to stop.

Well Done and thanks again to you and the Family. 

 

You are very welcome and I appreciate the comments. 

 

It's possible the flash could have been on. I'm not sure. When you are under water, it's hard to tell if it's going off. I just know my dive pictures weren't my normal dive "picture quality" if you know what I mean. It just wouldn't focus on the super close ups and there's just this ugly blue tint to all of them. Ugh.  Either way, we had a blast diving!

 

On 1/5/2019 at 6:54 PM, Hillbillygram said:

We are so looking forward to our Journeys cruise next month. As you said, it is longer than most of their cruises. We will be sailing out of Miami with 2 sea days before our first port of call of St. Croix with Guadeloupe, Barbados, Martinique, Antigua, St. Maarten, & Tortola to follow. Then 2 more sea days before arriving back in Miami.

 

 

That sounds like an amazing itinerary! Exactly what I would love to do. We haven't been to Guadeloupe or Antigua yet! Have a wonderful cruise!

 

On 1/5/2019 at 7:43 PM, bakersdozen12 said:

 

That's definitely an itinerary I would love to do someday!

 

 

Me too!!!!

 

On 1/5/2019 at 9:44 PM, TMW67 said:

We will be going to Cas Abao in April, thanks for the pictures! It really does look beautiful, I can't wait to go! I'm enjoying your review so far... awesome as usual!😊

 

It was a beautiful beach and definitely one that I would visit just for the beach even if we weren't diving. 

 

On 1/6/2019 at 6:40 AM, FMZ said:

Hi, loving the review as always! Totally off topic, Sakari's bathing suits are so cute, where do get them?

 

Aww thanks. It's a hodge-podge of bathing suits from everywhere. LOL  Old Navy, Walmart, Kohls, maybe a kids store here and there and Kendra bought her 2 from a resale shop we have here (Once Upon a Child) and 2 of them from where she gets her mermaid tails. She usually has a different bathing suit for every day of the cruise but she is quickly outgrowing most of them (in every "girly" direction lol).

 

On 1/6/2019 at 10:44 AM, splash_in_the_water said:

great diving trip review. You're really making me want to go on another cruise! without the kids this time...lol

 

Also, somehow i misses the part about the elevators. That all seems like more trouble than it's worth. Iknow at times waiting for a lift mightbe annoying , but with what, 6 or 4 different ones  depending where you're at..you just wait a minute and even if it's going up or down, you can hop on anyway , and hit your floor and you'll be there soon enough- none of this assigned elevator BS lol....

 

cruise people problems i guess...

 

Thanks! The only problem with hopping on an elevator that you are not assigned to is that it probably isn't going to your floor. So if you want to go to say deck 8 and you are told elevator M, but elevator N opens up, it may not even stop at 8 because none of those people are going to that floor. It may go to deck 5 and 6 only. So that's the problem with just jumping in any elevator. There's just no way to make it go to the deck you want it to. It will only go to the assigned decks the people in the elevator pushed. 

 

 

23 hours ago, crookedhalo said:

 

We actually stayed in a hotel a few years ago that used this type of system. It was actually very easy to use and did end up making the trips shorter. Didn't take long to figure out how it worked and was nice to not have to look at each elevator to see which one just dinged..

 

Ahhh, the dinging elevators. I just learned a few cruises ago that they ding differently depending on whether or not they are going up or down. LOL  I always learn something new. 

 

22 hours ago, splash_in_the_water said:

oh, well, maybe it does. just seems like odd to me I guess. 

 

It's a good system IF it works right. Most of the time it seemed to...it's just that long wait on certain days/times. 

 

 

11 hours ago, kruisinkris said:

LOVE your reviews!! You take great pictures and do great narratives!

 

 

Why thank you so much. I appreciate it. 

 

7 hours ago, dreadpirate3 said:

Loving your review, especially the dive stories.

 

 

Aww, thanks so much!

 

7 hours ago, IronScott said:

Excited to read your Aruba review. My wife and I just finished our first cruise but we have been to Aruba many times. We absolutely love it there but realize it's not for everyone. The governments of Aruba and Curacao are apparently working on a high-speed ferry transfer between the two but it may be a while before it's finished.

 

I just love Aruba! It's always repeat things for us since we have been going to Aruba for land vacations 2 weeks at a time during the summer. We have been just about everywhere.

 

I am excited to hear about this high-speed ferry between Aruba and Curacao! That would be fabulous! I'd fly to Aruba for a week and then on to Curacao if that's the case. Tell me more! How long is "a while"?

 

 

5 hours ago, Jenjer said:

Cas Abao beach looks perfect for us. We don't dive but the kids enjoy paddle board looks like they rent them.

 

How long of a taxi ride is it from port to the beach?

 

Yes, it's a beautiful beach and they had a bunch of water sports to rent there. 

 

The dive place told us it was a 30-minute drive but it didn't seem that long to me. I can check my date stamp on my pictures to see if there was a picture I might have taken as we were leaving the port and I know I took one as soon as we arrived. That would give me a better idea of exact time. I'll get back to you...

 

 

4 hours ago, chipis said:

Hooray!!... Another Mitsugirly review!!!

 

Kim, welcome back to CC... needless to say, you were greatly missed here in the boards, and I kept popping in from time to time to see if you had re-appeared and to see if everything was okay. We all missed your amazing reviews, beautiful pictures and witty humor... so, as you have been able to see, we are all very happy to see you here again!

 

Also, congrats on all the 2018 accomplishments : finishing schooling, your son's new home, another grandson.... (impossible to believe, for such a young gal in age and spirit!... I hope the hubby doesn't get jealous... he's a lucky fellow)... and no wonder you took a break from here, and social media in general. Thanks for coming back, and for sharing your new review with us (those of us who have followed you for a while, know it takes a lot of time and effort to come back and post a review like yours after coming from a cruise, and we really appreciate your efforts)... it's always a delight and an adventure to read them!

 

All the best for you and your family in 2019!.... and as usual, I will keep reading on! Sakari is now a beautiful young woman... I can't believe how big she is now. We all have seen her grow up from cruise to cruise.

Cheers!!

 

 

Thanks for the comments. Glad you are here and excited about the review. I appreciate the warm welcome and comments. It was definitely a hectic year. I'll make sure to pass the word along to the hubby 😉 hehe

 

Happy 2019 to you as well. Sakari is definitely growing and she's in the pre-teen stage now. Eek! She ended up with a lot more "freedom" and "trust" this cruise. I was having a heartattack most time and it felt weird to give her a little slack. That was definitely a sign of growing up...whether I wanted to admit it or not. 

[mitsugirly]

Sorry I haven't posted more lately. I had to work on my proposal from my capstone project for my last class. I submitted it today, so now it's a waiting game to see if they approve or deny it some time before Jan 14th. Whew!

 

BACK TO THE REVIEW....

 

So dinner that we just scarfed down:

 

 

 

 

 

Then off the ship we went for a kidless and fancy-free night on the town exploring. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Curacao REALLY decorates for Christmas...I mean REALLY REALLY decorates! You'll see what I mean with all the pictures and I'm not even sharing them all. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

It was just so pretty there!

 

We came to a place that looked like a fort and they called it the Renaissance Wall & RIF fort. But it was like a little shopping mall and restaurant area.

 

 

 

 

Some random people that wanted to be in everyone's pictures because they were sitting where people sit to take pictures and not moving.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This little scuba dive person was so cool. I really should have bought it. I just didn't know where I would put it.

 

 

 

 

 

This is where we were heading. I had read in the past that there was a swinging/moving bridge and I just knew this had to be it. 

 

It was lit up with so many different colors and it randomly changed colors too. I tried and tried to get a good picture (even tried to record it) and I was unsuccessful it capturing what I was really seeing. 😞

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

 

 

These things are so cool! You bring a lock and put something on it and lock it on the heart. I have only seen them in shows on t.v. before and never in person. Had I know they had one, I would have brought a lock for us. Next time...!!!

 

 

 

I think vendors could make a lot of money off this if they were to have a booth beside this and sold only locks. I looked everywhere and found nothing. Maybe I should move there and sell locks to those people passing by looking for a place to buy one.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I really couldn't believe just how much they all go out for Christmas. Sakari would have loved all this. She likes doing/seeing things like this. I was sad that she missed it and decided to stay back on the ship.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

 

 

 

 

Santa sits in the middle of the street